Is Social Media a Waste of Time?

I think that this is a question many search marketers would love to say “yes” to.  But I don’t necessarily think that it is as cut and dry as a yes or no answer.  Here’s the reality…

It’s about the why’s not the how’s….

Clearly, this is a case of overthinking social media…

You can use almost anything in terms of traffic medium and get positive results.  But where things sort of slide into the gray areas is that (just like it is true that you can rank for something in search and not make any kind of money) most of us never really get into the why’s….we are only interested in the how’s.

Here are a few things that I have learned about social media personally in the past year…

You can’t force the be everywhere at once philosophy…

I hear this all the time.  And for a second, I actually believed it.  But here’s the reality.  Being everywhere at once is usually precipitated on how much you are affecting the people around you, not how hard you are working.

Websites that have their message tweeted everywhere and liked isn’t the result of them being on the platform directly as much as it is affecting people with your message.

In other words, being everywhere means that people are spreading your message everywhere.  You aren’t necessarily active on the platform…but they are.

Do something worthwhile and you will be rewarded

Build something.  Write a book. Create software or an app.  But for God’s sake, do something worthwhile.  While it ain’t a slam dunk or a guarantee, it is the easiest way to build a powerful social media presence.

Because people “like” and “follow” things that affect them.

This doesn’t mean build a blog (barrier to entry is low and information is cheap these days).  You can, but you will have a ton of competition out there competing for the same resources.

When you examine twitter & Facebook accounts, you will notice the correlation between value and twitter or Facebook followers.

Stop Joining & Automating Social Media Accounts

I used to recommend automation for social media accounts to my clients.  But after playing around with this, I immediately noticed that different social media platforms react differently.  So, connecting a twitter account to a Facebook account will likely not give a good ROI, especially if you can buy into the fact the being everywhere is not something that you make happen but that happens on it’s own.

It’s easier.  Which is why automation is so attractive.

Pick a couple social networks and actually participate in them-

Here’s the real problem with automating social media ;  You never actually learn how to use them.  In a sense, you are cheating ; cutting corners.

But if this is you, then you are losing out in a possibility that would make social media truly worth something – networking influence.  And this, at least in my opinion, is truly the only thing in terms of reach and social platforms that you have a hand in.

Here’s the payoff when you are focusing on just a couple platforms…

• You learn how to use it effectively-  Like I said, networking on Twitter is going to be different than networking on Facebook, Pinterest, Tumblr, or Google+.
• You spend less time integrating social media into your business- Time is finite.  And if you don’t watch out, social media will absolutely throttle your time.  By focusing on a couple platforms, you are simply hedging your bets rather than spreading them.
• Locating and networking with influencers becomes more narrow & focused-  There are very few people in this world that are completely unavailable.

Related posts:

1. Social Media- Where “They” Live
2. Social Media is Just a Small Part of the Big Picture
3. Once Upon a Time there were Forums for This